Sunday, June 30, 2013

The View

This is the view from our bedroom balcony.  That is Mt. Ararat in the background.  It is the Mountain where Noah landed after the flood.  It use to be in Armenia, but is now just over the boarder in Turkey - just one of the reasons Armenia does not get along with Turkey!
Notice the grey splotch over the smaller mountain - it is not a cloud - it is the reason we bought a new camera!
 
I love the flowers that are on our walk to the office.  The wisteria reminds me of my mom!!
The Iris are just like the ones outside our window when we were living at Russ' home.

And of course - how could I not take a picture of the RED window display!!!


Saturday, June 15, 2013

The Office

Everyday we take the 7 minute walk from our comfortable apartment to our office.  It is in this building that is owned by the church.  Inside are the Mission Offices, the District Offices and upstairs is the Arabkir Branch.
This is the Foyer to our Mission Offices.
 Elder Reese has a large desk.  Lots of things get left on it!  He is the 'go to guy' for everything here.
 He is responsible for the keys to everything!  On the right is the white board with pictures of every missionary and where they are serving.
 He is also responsible for all the mission money - makes him a very popular guy!

 
This is the reception side of my office - very tastefully decorated and comfortable.  The door behind me is to the Presidents office.  He conducts many interviews there.
 And this is where the work is done.  My computer skills have increased greatly - but it still takes me along time to get things done!
We leave the house everyday at 9:00.  We try to leave the office at 5 - but we rarely make it.  We also come most Saturdays to help with baptisms that are held here.  We go to the International Group on Sundays which is held upstairs.  So you see, we are here everyday of the week!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Memorial

In April of 1915 the Ottoman Government began the genocide of the Armenians living in their empire.  Over the next few years over one and a half million Armenians died, the few remaining were scattered to many different countries.  Every year on April 24th the Armenians remember those who died.  We arrived in Armenia on April 25th and went to the memorial that afternoon.
It is a long walk up to the leaning pillars.
 

Each person who comes to remember brings flowers to place around the eternal flame.  We were amazed at the amount of flowers.
 
 Many come to pay tribute to those who died.
There are many youth groups who take the petals off of the flowers and then spread them out to dry.  Then they use the petals in their handmade paper.  The paper is put into beautiful books that are set out for the visitors to write there thoughts about visiting the memorial.

 Visiting the Armenian Genocide Memorial was a good way to start our mission.  It reminds us of the hardships that the people have gone through and their resilient spirit.